When it comes to earning a degree, taking notes in class and studying might be the difference between failure and success. Notability and similar apps play a vital role when it comes to looking for these solutions. Should Notability not be the app for you, here are some of the best Notability alternatives for both Android and iOS platforms:
- Microsoft OneNote – Android and iOS
- Google Keep – Android and iOS
- Apple Notes – For iOS
- Evernote – Android and iOS
- LiquidText – For iOS
- Noteshelf – Android and iOS
- BlackNote – For Android
- NoteLedge – Android and iOS
- Notezilla – Android and iOS
- Post-it – Android and iOS
Although Notability is only for iOS users, for reasons like certain universities and schools providing iPad-only devices, if you have an Android, rest assured that these similar apps to Notability provide identical features and functions. With that said, how are these apps similar to Notability?
How are the Apps Similar to Notability?
The ability to take notes is one of the numerous advantages of having a smartphone. You carry your smartphone with you almost all of the time. As a result, besides your studies, it’s a great place to keep track of your ideas. Or a friendly reminder notes that you need to go to the shop and pull out the needed hopping list.
Of course, the appropriate software alternatives to Notability are essential for the task, so let’s look at the top note-taking apps for Android and iOS, starting with Microsoft OneNote.
1. Microsoft OneNote – Android And IOS
Microsoft OneNote is one of the most advanced note-taking apps available, with full cross–platform support. The OneNote app is likely to be available on whichever device you choose to use. It may be found in the relevant App Store for Apple and Android devices.
As well as being available on every central platform, OneNote is unique in the way it organizes notes. Unlike Notability, OneNote retains a flexible document structure that allows you to organize your documents in ways you see fit.
If you don’t have a lot of self-organization skills, the basic framework could suffice. OneNote might provide you the space you need to spread your legs if you’re a productivity fanatic fully.
Like the majority of the other applications on this list, OneNote allows you to organize and share your ideas. However, OneNote’s sharing features are more extensive than those found in programs like Notability.
Users of OneNote may export notes and notebooks to PDF, but they can also invite others to read and modify their notes collaboratively. OneNote might help you in ways that other applications cannot if you want to make note-taking a collaborative endeavor.
2. Google Keep – Android and IOS
Google Keep, like Notability, is a simple digital notepad. Google Keep could be what you need if your workplaces are covered with Post-It notes. It’s a pared-down note-taking app that focuses on scribbling short notes or lists, adding drawings or photos, and organizing them using labels comparable to Gmail.
It’s fantastic if you’re already a Google user, and it’s convenient if you’re taking notes while browsing the web, thanks to Google Keep’s Chrome plugin.
Another benefit of Google Keep is that it can sync your notes with your Google Cloud and other Google apps, making it simple to access through the web or your mobile phone and other devices that can connect to a browser.
For example, if you’re writing an essay on hiking, you can take notes on the go on your phone and retrieve that material later when you get back to your computer.
Another advantage is that you may share your notes with anybody who has a Google account, including friends, family, students, co–workers, and lecturers, and linking them together and build a unified note list, making life even more simple.
3. Apple Notes – For iOS
While Apple Notes serves as a foundation for all of the other apps on this list, it is still a capable note-taking tool in and of itself, similar to Notability.
Apple Notes is probably all you’ll ever need if you need to take a few introductory notes or make a few checklists. With storage capabilities like Google Keep, It syncs with iCloud, is compatible with all Apple devices (excluding the Apple Watch), and is included in the standard operating system.
We’ll be the first to acknowledge that Apple Notes lacks some document organizing and importing features. While you may attach a PDF to a note in the Notes app, Apple prefers that you save, sign, edit, or distribute PDFs using the Books app.
Even yet, if you’re not a heavy note-taker, Apple Notes could be all you’ll ever need. It even has complete stylus compatibility, which Apple Pencil users will appreciate, so you can give it a go before rushing to the App Store to get anything else.
4. Evernote – Android And IOS
Since Evernote was created, it’s been the first and last word in digital note-taking, so it’s only logical that it’s one of the most exemplary note–taking apps for smartphones.
The app made its mark on the note-taking market as a web-based platform that eventually connected with other platforms and services in 2008 (albeit it was first released in 2000).
All of this is to say that Evernote has been around for a long time, and it was one of the first note-taking apps to provide some of the critical features that note-takers look for in current note-taking apps.
Evernote offers a few unique characteristics that distinguish it from the competition. It has payment tiers, including a free edition and features tailored to power users and corporate teams. It is something you won’t find in smaller applications like Notability, and it helps Evernote reach a wider audience.
This software also integrates with popular business apps such as Google Drive, Slack, and Salesforce, making it simple to connect your apps to your productivity tools.
Evernote provides an extensive toolbox for helping you manage your life if you want to do more than take notes. With Evernote’s templates and integrations, you can speed up your note-taking process by a factor of ten.
Evernote also owns Penultimate, award-winning software that combines Evernote’s sync and search features with a longhand experience for those who prefer a specialized, digital handwriting experience.
5. LiquidText – For IOS
While many students use Notability as their primary note-taking tool, LiquidText is an attractive option if you need to read or review while still taking notes.
Users may use LiquidText to import PDFs and documents straight into the app, then take notes directly on those documents or in the program’s “document workspace.” The software loads the content into the left side of the screen and leaves an empty workspace on the right for users to extract essential ideas or snippets from the text.
LiquidText’s ability to capture handwritten notes simultaneously gives it a unique feature set unavailable in any other application. While other applications may include a highlighter or web-page markup, LiquidText provides the space you need to work with the document once it has been submitted.
Although LiquidText has a free version, the Pro edition has more features and capabilities.
6. Noteshelf – Android And IOS
Noteshelf is the right blend of iOS-based and Android software similar to Notability and a more versatile program like Evernote for many note-takers. Noteshelf makes it simple to connect to Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. Both Android and Apple devices are supported.
Noteshelf is particularly well-known for its user-friendly interface. Your workspace does not receive cluttered menu options or selection tools as a result of the program. Instead, it allows you to work comfortably by creating as much white space as possible, allowing you to start noting down right away.
The quickness and fluidity that come with writing in the app is another huge plus for consumers. When compared to other note-taking applications, Noteshelf’s handwriting is smooth, and writing feels more natural.
7. BlackNote – For Android
You probably have noticed that lying down in bed late at night and coming up with a great idea does not always invite a bright screen. Like Notability, BlackNote is a simple digital notepad app that helps you jot down, capture, and keep critical information.
For budding novelists, BlackNote allows you to record side notes on characters, scribble down research about plants, animals, or countries and their histories. This app is well-known for not bombarding you with advertisements and being a quick and straightforward way to compose and document information.
You can categorize your lists and mark them important where necessary; list–style options are another feature, as well as article–creating features making BlackNote maintain your focus on the title while you type drunk and edit sober.
You can set up a numeric password or fingerprint access to protect the entree to the BlackNote app on your smartphone once it’s installed, so if you have sensitive information, setting up a password is simple.
Although it is an elementary yet great alternative to Notability, another great feature is that you don’t need the latest smartphone to run this app smoothly.
While other note apps have been known to drain your phone’s battery, slow it down, and even overheat it, BlackNote’s software is hardware friendly, making it a great companion to share your information with. BlackNote is currently only available on Android platforms.
8. NoteLedge – Android And IOS
NoteLedge is a fantastic multipurpose app that may assist you at work and in your academics. It works similarly to Notability and is available for both Android and iOS platforms.
Between its functions and characteristics, NoteLedge poses excellent competition. Optical pencils, typefaces, colors, opacity, customizable sizes, text boxes, and more are among the most prominent features. It also allows you to capture audio and video through a well-organized interface.
You may collect ideas from Pinterest, YouTube, and websites, arrange them in one location, and take notes. To conceptualize and communicate ideas, use mood boards or fast drawings.
Designers and creatives may use NoteLedge to collect ideas and arrange everything in one location rapidly. Find inspiration from Pinterest, websites, YouTube, Vimeo, or your immediate surroundings, then save snippets to your notes and add your opinions.
NoteLedge allows you to connect the dots and get creative in a flexible workstation, streamlining your creative process. To experiment with content and visualize your ideas, make mood boards or collages. Designers may use a range of brushes to draw, outline, and sketch fast design drawings.
Present work directly from your smartphone or share notes in PDF format, along with audio and video. Use multimedia tools to communicate ideas with your team or clientele effectively. NoteLedge is the finest note-taking software for interior style, home decor, product design, fashion design, character design, and more!
9. Notezilla – Android And IOS
Notezilla is a welcoming alternative to Notability, and this app has a plethora of features to offer. Use colored sticky notes to write down your thoughts and to-do lists quickly, and It’s a pleasant experience. To keep track of pending chores, make checklist notes as it encourages you to achieve your objective more quickly.
Set reminder alerts to remind you of your responsibilities. As we all know, Important tasks must be completed on time if given deadlines. Attach photos from your camera or photo collection to your notes.
When you’re in a hurry, search for and select the right note, making life so much easier as it assists you with your hectic daily routine. Using widgets, you may add notes to your phone’s home screen. To make it easier to find your notes, tag them to categorize them. It helps you get organized with the least amount of effort.
The critical notes at the time being you can mark with a star. Notezilla helps keep you focused on the work at hand as constructing a notes list is easy to use. Like BlackNote, A master password can be used to secure critical notes keeping your notes safe.
10. Post-it – Android And IOS
This handy alternative to Notability allows visual learners and creative people to digitize their study notes. Using the Post-it Sticky Note app, you can transfer your notes into a digital whiteboard to arrange your ideas and shuffle your notes around if you prefer notecards or stick notes to plan your ideas.
About 200 notes can be captured at once, imported onto a board, edited, and dragged around to enhance clarity. Combining boards may enable you to create multiplatform or multidevice displays.
For tactile people who prefer to take notes by touching and feeling something, this might be one of the most useful apps for you. Keep in mind that typical sticky notes are square, and Post-It created it with their products in mind, but they claim it will work with any square piece of paper.
Conclusion
Without a doubt, having the appropriate app may be the difference between passing and failing a test or taking quick notes in a conference. Coming across apps like Notability comes in handy with mobile devices.
However, Notability is not available for android devices. If you like how you easily navigated through Notability, quickly capturing notes to revisit later to review and actively use, you will most definitely enjoy its alternatives.
These apps may be tailored just for you by the features each app may offer; as Notability may only be available for apple products, the similar apps provide close competition.
References:
AlternativeTo: Notability Alternatives
G2: Top 10 Notability Alternatives & Competitors
Common Sense: 3 Alternatives to Evernote and Notability for Note-Taking
Android Authority: 10 best note taking apps for Android